Hiking

I finally got my snowmobile put back together and just in time for the weekend. It looks brand new again and runs great. Katie and I decided to spend Sunday before the Super Bowl exploring the area around Little John Sno-Park. It's located about 26 miles South of Hood River, Oregon off hwy 35 on the East side of Mt Hood. It is a lower elevation sno-park, so the conditions are not generally as favorable as some of the more popular sno-parks around Mt Hood.

Katie and I went hiking together today around Frog Lake. We started from Frog Lake SnoPark, which is about 7 miles Southeast of Government Camp off Hwy 26. Our plan was to take it easy and just hike a couple miles around the lake due to my leg and knee injury from snowmobiling last month. The weather forecast called for another calm, unseasonably warm sunny day up on the mountain.

It has been over a month since I last went out on an adventure. My last trip involved a snowmobile crash which has made it difficult for me to walk and has put me out of work. I tore part of my quadriceps muscle and also my medial meniscus in my knee. I started physical therapy this week and fortunately am walking much better now. As part of my rehabilitation to gain full range of motion in my left leg before knee surgery next month, I decided to go on a short snow hike today. The weather has been beautiful up in the mountains and I have been eager to get out and enjoy it.

After working in Redmond the past couple weeks, I got to come home Wednesday and had Thursday off. The weather forecast was not great, but I was eager to get out and do some hiking on my day off. The snow level was forecasted to finally come down to around 2,500 feet. I decided to go hiking in the snow to McNeil Point on the West side of Mt Hood. Normally this hike would have amazing views (so I hear), but not this trip due to the weather.

I had another free day on Tuesday, so I took my grandpa hiking on the Tilly Jane trail past the A-frame cabin up to the Cooper Spur stone shelter near the Timberline trail. It's a 3.7 mile one-way hike with almost 3,000' of elevation gain. That's darn impressive, as my grandpa is 83 years old. I hope I have his genes!

The first snows of the season were predicted to fall at pass levels this weekend. I have snow fever and decided to go hiking up Mt Hood (11,249') Saturday morning even though it would likely be whiteout conditions. I planned to hike up the standard South route from Timberline Lodge (6,000' elevation) as far up as I could safely go (likely around 8,000' - 9,000' in elevation). Temperatures were predicted to be in the low 20's, dropping into the high teens with high winds and several inches of snow falling throughout the day above 4,000' elevation.

This weekend Jason and I backpacked to Jefferson Park in the Mt Jefferson Wilderness in Central Oregon. Jefferson Park is a gorgeous area situated at the foot of Mt Jefferson boasting large meadows, gorgeous lakes, and breathtaking carpets of wildflowers. Our 6.3 mile (one way) journey gained approximately 2900 feet in elevation as we hiked along the South Breitenbush Trail #3375 to Bays Lake. We began our hike at a trailhead off FS Rd 46.

On Sunday Jason and I were invited to hike to Angel’s Rest in the Columbia River Gorge with a group of longtime friends. Though we have done a few other hikes in the area, we’d never come to Angel’s Rest. This hike is just over 2.1 miles one-way, gains approximately 1350’ elevation, and boasts panoramic views of the Gorge from the top. On a clear day, one can see downtown Portland, Beacon Rock, and (contrary to most accounts) also Mt Adams peaking over the hills in Washington.

On Friday Jason and I met up with our friends Kyle and Tiffanie for a backpacking trip in the Olallie Lake Scenic Area. The weather forecast was great and we were excited to do some backpacking with good friends. Our intended destination was Sheep Lake, a 2.3 mile hike in on the Red Lake trail #719. The main trail begins off spur road 380 from FS road 46. In the interest of cutting off some elevation gain on our hike, we intersected the trail off spur road 076 thanks to Kyle's navigation and 4x4 driving skills (high clearance 4x4 vehicle required).

On Wednesday Jason and I planned another longer hike from our base camp at LaPine State Park, this time to Paulina Lake via the Peter Skene Ogden Tail #3956 in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. The trail starts at Ogden Group Camp off Paulina Lake Road/Road 21, just North of the city of LaPine, Oregon. Having hiked this trail from Ogden Group Camp to McKay Crossing campground many times, we decided to start Wednesday’s journey at our usual end point.

While camping at LaPine State Park in Central Oregon, Jason and I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful sceneary and planned a couple hikes. For our first hike, we planned to make a 12 to 13-mile loop, beginning on the Soda Creek Trail #11, continuing to the Todd Lake Trail #34 and then on to the Broken Top trail #10, finishing the loop on the Green Lakes Trail #17 back to our starting point.

Martin Lake, located in the Southern end of the Mt Jefferson Wilderness at the base of Three Fingered Jack, was our planned backpacking destination over Memorial Day weekend this year. Unfortunately due to lots of snow and poor weather, we never made it. Now that the weather has warmed up and the snow melted, Katie and I decided to backpack to Martin Lake this weekend.

With the 4th of July off from work, I headed to the Mt Jefferson Wilderness for a solo hike to Jefferson Park and a quick climb of Park Butte. It's about a 5 mile hike one-way to Jefferson Park along the Whitewater trail #3429 and Pacific Crest Trail #2000. The Whitewater trailhead is at the end of Whitewater Rd (NF 2243) about 60 miles East of Salem on Hwy 22. It is a popular area later in the season, after the winter snows have had a chance to melt. As such, there are wilderness restrictions on camping locations and campfires in the Jefferson Park area.

Katie and I spent the Saturday of Mother's Day weekend hiking in the Jefferson Wilderness to Pamelia Lake and Grizzly Peak. It is still early season and we expected to encounter snow, so we packed accordingly. The weather was forecasted to be sunny and warm.

The Pamelia trailhead is approximately 62 miles East of Salem on Hwy 22 past Detroit Lake. The trailhead is off Forest Service road 2246 just past milepost 62 on the left. The parking lot is about 3.7 miles down the road (paved, but bumpy most of the way). There is an outhouse at the trailhead.

After a long, wet few months, we finally had enough sun and dry weather to enjoy our first spring hike on Sunday. We decided to venture to Saddle Mountain State Park in the Oregon Coast Range. The trailhead to Saddle Mountain is located 7 miles off Hwy 26 in Northwestern Oregon. The turnoff to Saddle Mountain State Park Road is on the North side of Hwy 26, between mileposts 10 and 11. This out-and-back hike covers approximately 4 total miles (according to Jason’s GPS) and gains approximately 1600’ elevation.